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December 2020: Read our latest DIY lesson, "The Plague that Bears his Name," about the Frenchman who identified the bacteria that causes the bubonic plague. November 2020: Read our new DIY lesson, "Beatrix Potter Likes Lichens." August 2020: The Washington Post includes Joy's "innovative, multi-volume “The History of US" in a list of "the best books to keep children — and their adults — entertained." 
"I read A History of US around when I was in 2nd grade and it lit a fire in me. I'm 24 now, and have never stopped learning about history. I studied it extensively at UC Berkeley, and still do in my free time. I work in artificial intelligence research, and it's shaped how I see the world and do my work. It's made life more pleasant, and I never feel alone since I know there are countless souls who have been in my shoes once." Thank you, Alok Notes like this make me smile. Alok read the books when he was in 2nd grade! Clearly a bright kid. Mostly the books are found in 5th and 8th grades, because that's when we teach US history. But a college professor suggests that his incoming freshmen read the whole series during their summer break. And an advanced placement teacher uses them in her high school classes. None of that is surprising to me. I was trained as a newspaper reporter. What age are newspapers written for? 
Joy Hakim's books use an ancient teaching method: STORYTELLING. Today it is known as narrative nonfiction.
How do the books work in classrooms? Here's a link to a VOICE OF AMERICA story sent worldwide. A History of US, a 10-book series, is published by Oxford University Press. The Story of Science, in three volumes, is published by Smithsonian Books. Coordinated teaching materials are available for both series. Freedom: A History of US was written to accompany a 16-part PBS television series available on DVDs from PBS. The book works especially well in high school or freshman college history classes. Go here to find out more. The book is available from Amazon or Social Studies School Services. What is A History of Us? A HISTORY OF US is a new take on US history. What's new about it? Among other things, it tells stories about some American heroes you may not know. You can read about William Johnson in From Colonies to Country. He was a wartime leader who won a decisive battle that helped the British claim victory in the French and Indian War. If the British hadn't won we might all be speaking French today. Big thing: Johnson married a Native American woman and they lived proudly as husband and wife raising a family together. That raised some eyebrows of snotty neighbors. Johnson, a major figure in his time was a real American hero. Why isn't he in all our American history texts? In The New Nation, read about a colonist who owned more slaves than Jefferson and Washington combined. He freed all of them. He gets left out of most American histories. But not this one. THE STORY OF SCIENCE is available in an illustrated hardcover edition, as an illustrated ebook, and in Korean and Chinese editions. Much of its focus is on physics, the science that dominated the 20th century. Can children understand relativity and quantum theory? Yes, in these books those sciences are presented as stories of discovery. NSTA president Juliana Texley tackles relativity in an amazing NSTA teaching resource to accompany "Einstein Adds A New Dimension." That learning/teaching guide can be found on the NSTA website. Four new books that tell life's story are now in the publication process. |
REACH OUT
Instagram: @storiesforthinkers
Twitter: @jhakim_edugeek Facebook: @Joy Hakim Email: joyhakim@gmail.com School Orders
Special discounts and sample books are available. A History of US Tel: (800) 445-9714 The Story of Science Tel: (202) 633-2495 Reading Science Stories Email: joyhakim@gmail.com For more information, please visit Joy's Ordering/Contact page. Click here to learn interesting FAQ's about Joy and her books.
Ebook: "Reading Science Stories," uses Science and its stories as a way to Teach Critical Thinking FREE TO BELIEVE (OR NOT) A book with original documents and stories of religious freedom in America |
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When I told one little boy that I remembered Martin Luther King, Jr., he gasped, thought a moment, and asked me if I remembered George Washington. Of course I do. There I am writing, in the picture to the right, in colonial days. |
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